Celtics reportedly trading Kristaps Porzingis to Hawks in 3-team trade to get under NBA's second apron
The Boston Celtics are reportedly set to trade big man Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks as part of a three-team trade, . The deal will shed enough salary off the books in Boston that the Celtics will no longer be in the second apron of the NBA's salary cap, according to Charania.
The trade, which was first reported Tuesday evening, also involves the Brooklyn Nets. Here's the full deal, as reported by Charania:
Hawks receive: Kristaps Porzingis, future Boston second-round pick
Nets receive: Terance Mann, 2025 first-round pick (No. 22, from Atlanta via LA Lakers)
Celtics receive: Georges Niang, future second-round pick
The Porzingis trade comes less than 24 hours after Celtics president of basketball ops. Brad Stevens dealt veteran guard Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers late Monday night. That trade brought shooting guard Anfernee Simons to Boston and saved the Celtics $4.7 million for next season.
The Porzingis trade will alleviate Boston's cap crunch even more. Niang is signed through next season at $8.2 million, while Porzingis has one year left at $30.7 million.
With Niang now on the books in place of Porzingis, the Celtics have dipped below the second tax apron ($207,825,000) by about $4.5 million. Resetting the books will help the Celtics avoid a massive tax bill, frozen draft picks, and restrictions in free agency and trades, but it cost Boston two core pieces of the 2024 Championship team.
Stevens still has some roster spots to fill out and a pair of draft picks to make, so another move will likely be necessary to remain under the second apron. Sharpshooter Sam Hauser has been mentioned in trade rumors, as he's set to start a four-year, $45 million extension he signed with the team after last season.
Kristaps Porzingis with the Boston Celtics
Porzingis reacted to the trade Wednesday morning, saying he's forever grateful for his two years with a "class organization."
The Celtics acquired Porzingis on June 23, 2023 in a three-team trade with the Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies. Stevens sent Marcus Smart to Memphis in that deal, which also landed Boston a first-round pick.
"The Unicorn" was an instant hit in Boston and mixed well with the core group of players, and formed an close friendship with Celtics star Jaylen Brown. He helped space the floor on offense with his outside shooting, and provided the team some excellent defense in the paint. The Celtics were nearly unstoppable when he was healthy, and Porzingis embraced the passion and pride from Boston fans.
In his first season in Boston, Porzingis averaged 20.1 points as he shot 51.6 percent overall and 37.5 percent from three-point range. He also pulled down 7.2 rebounds and averaged 1.9 blocks per contest over 57 games. The Celtics managed his minutes and usage during the regular season, and Porzingis looked poised for a big postseason run.
But he suffered a calf strain in Game 4 of Boston's first-round matchup with the Miami Heat, which sidelined him for 10 games before he returned for Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. Porzingis came off the bench and scored 20 points and had six rebounds in the Celtics' Game 1 win, but he suffered a left leg injury in Game 2.
That injury -- a "torn medial retinaculum, allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon" -- kept him out of the next two games in the NBA Finals, before he scored eight points over 16 minutes off the bench in Boston's title-clinching Game 5 victory at TD Garden.
He had to undergo surgery for that rare leg injury and missed the first month of the 2024-25 season. Porzingis was limited to 42 games last year, as he dealt with a lingering illness for much of the second half of the season. He was still battling "post-viral syndrome" in the playoffs, and it showed on the court.
Porzingis was lethargic in his 11 playoff games, when he averaged just 7.7 points off 31.6 percent shooting from the floor and 15.4 percent from deep. He scored just 25 points and shot only 24 percent in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks, and the Celtics were upset in six games.
Health and availability have been Porzingis' biggest issue throughout his career, and he really didn't give the Celtics much when they needed him in 2024-25. But he helped the team win the franchise's 18th championship, and will have a spot in Celtics history because of it.
But with Jayson Tatum likely out all of next season as he recovers from his Achilles injury and the Celtics feeling the second apron crunch, Stevens has opted to trim some payroll this summer and reset the books. Holiday and Porzingis are casualties of the NBA's salary cap, but dealing them now should give the Celtics some more flexibility down the road.
Who is Georges Niang?
Niang is a 32-year-old big man who is originally from Lawrence, MA and attended the Tilton School in in New Hampshire. He went to college at Iowa State and has been in the NBA since he was drafted in the second round of the 2016 NBA Draft by Indiana.
He's nicknamed "The Minivan" thanks to his 6-foot-7, 230-pound frame and has played for the Pacers, Jazz, 76ers, Cavaliers, and Hawks during his nine-year career. Niang averaged 9.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game for the Cavaliers and the Hawks last season, when he saw 21.5 minutes per contest.
Niang isn't going to protect the rim or stretch the floor like Porzingis, but he did shoot 41 percent from three last season on a career-high 6.6 attempts per game. He's a 40 percent shooter from downtown for his career.
